1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a subsystem of producing a dye base body used for dyeing of a spectacle lens in accordance with a color and a coloring pattern selected for dyeing (coloring) the spectacle lenses, and a spectacle lens dyeing system including the dye base body producing subsystem for dyeing spectacle lenses by use of the produced base body.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, when customers select spectacle lenses (which are hereinafter simply referred to as “lenses”) with color in optical shops, the customers would select a desired color (and a desired coloring pattern such as a gradation pattern and others) while looking article samples, color samples, catalogs, etc. which have been prepared beforehand. Lens manufactures and lens dyehouses would perform lens-dyeing by preparing dyeing solutions (dyes) to provide the same color as that of the sample selected by each customer.
The above case, however, causes the following problems to each of the side of persons who select lens color (i.e., customers) and the other side of persons who perform lens dyeing (i.e., lens manufactures or lens dyehouses).
The color selecting side (customer) is offered the samples and the like to select a desired color while looking them. That is, he/she should make a choice among colors available in the optical shop. This usually permits the customer only a small latitude in selecting a desired color. On the other hand, the dyeing side should prepare many samples and dyeing solutions (dyes) of many colors corresponding to the samples in order to respond to various needs of customers, thus increasing cost.
Even if the choice of a slightly different color from that of the sample can be accepted, a conventional dip dyeing method and a conventional vapor phase dyeing method (see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1-277814) are substantially unable to appropriately mix dyeing solutions or dyes so as to provide the selected color. Since there is no sample of such the desired color, the customer also occasionally feels the color of the actually dyed lens different from the color selected by himself. Furthermore, until the spectacles are completely assembled with the dyed lenses fit in a spectacles frame (hereinafter referred to as “1 frame”), the customer can not confirm whether the finished spectacles with the dyed lenses is matched to the face of the customer.
For resolving the above problems, there has been proposed an apparatus capable of photographing the face of a customer by a camera to display a picture image of the photographed face on a display while superimposing a frame image stored in advance in the apparatus and selected by the customer on the face image and applying a selected color (and a selected coloring pattern) to a lens area of the selected frame image. An example of such the apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-353353.
However, the above apparatus is designed simply for allowing a customer to confirm whether the selected frame and the selected lens color (and coloring pattern) are matched to the face of the customer. Thus, in order to actually dye lenses in the selected color by use of the conventional dip dyeing method and the vapor phase dyeing method, the apparatus has to store data on producible colors (i.e., colors of prepared dye solutions or dyes) for the dyeing and therefore the customer can only select one among the stored colors.
In the conventional dyeing methods, particularly, lenses are hard to dye in various coloring patterns such as a gradation pattern. Accordingly, when a customer selects a desired color while looking article samples or picture images displayed on the above apparatus, he/she can only select one from among the coloring patterns which are actually dyeable. After all, the conventional dyeing methods allow customers only a small latitude in selecting a desired coloring pattern.